Safety razor



Jan; 25; 1944.

J. D. KARLE SAFETY RAZOR Filed Aug. 24, 1940 I'NVENTOR Joanna/Kama J Y ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 25, 1944 SAFETY RAZOR v i 7 John Daniel Karle RoselleParl r, N; J .,'ass'ignor to Magazine Repeating Razor Company, New .York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey.

Application'Aiigus't 24, 19- lQ,; S eriall lo. 353,997 I 7 Claims.

The invention relates to safety razors of the type in which provision is made 'for injecting blades into shaving position in the head from a magazine containing a plurality of blades that can be ejected therefrom one by one as needed, I

firmly in position and in definite alignment with respect to the guard, but wherein provision is also made for strapping the blade without removing it from the blade holder. An example of a razor of this type is to be found in United States Patent to Gaisman Nod 92,246, issued April 29, 1924. a Referring to the drawing:

'Fig 1 is a plan view of the safety razor e bodying my invention; f p Fig. 2 is a side View of the razor;

' Fig. 3 is a View on the line 3-.-3 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on line 4'4 in Fig. 1; 1 Fig. 5 is a section on the line'5.5 in Fig; 2; 7 Fig. 6 is a view of the underside of the blade holder; i f

Fig. '7 is a perspective viewofa blade adaptable for use in connection with my invention;

Fig, 8 is a perspective view of a magazine injector suitable for'injecting blades into the'razoi; I Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-'-9 of Fig. 4. Describing the preferred embodiment of] the invention-and referring to. the drawing to make the description clear. A V I The operating and blade-holding parts are all mounted on a frame consisting of a base In pro-l vided at each end with upwardly projecting ears I I, ll anddownwardly projecting ears 112, I2, both sets of ears bein'gi'nerely angularex tensions of the plate. The base plate also comprises a curved portion M that functions as here? inafter noted. The upwardly projecting ears II, II are provided with bearings for a shaft on which the blade-holder .16 is fixedly mounted. The construction of the blade-holder will belater described in more detail, it being merely sufiicientlfor the present to state that it comprises a Ph erwv e Wi he sl in o wh blade may be inserted with its heel backed against-the bottom of the slot; i

Also mounted in bearings in theupwardly. pro,- jecting ears H, II is a shaft ll onwhich is rigidly mounted a traction roller lla andith {shaft l5 and the shaft l'lare geared together by the gears l8 and 19. Therefore, if 'the' roller be' ro tated, the shaft I5 rotates; revolving the blade.- carrier and also the blade with it about the'faiiis 'ofthesha ft I5. The guard 20 forms one of the terminals of a lever 2|,the other terminal being the thumb or finger piece 22. The fulcrum of the'lever' is at 23 where it is hinged by the rivets 24= passing through the ears |2,. T| 2 and the ears 24a; 25a extending from the lever. The curved portion 25 of the lever is'concentric with the curved per tion' I3 of thebase i0 hereinbef ore referred to. In order to create: enough 'frictionfto hold the lever :set at any desired angle 'in its rotation 'aboutits fulcrum 23., a'nub 26, as shown in Fig. 5; is struck up sufficiently so that;it]yieldingly presses (by virtue of the inherent resiliencybf the material+brass or the like) against the curved portiohfl3'at any angular positio n of the lever. The lever is provided :with .an-apertu re 2a which encircles the. she; 1k 29 'allowinghow ever suflicient play to permit the lever td vbe oscillated through an angleof a magnitude that willpermit it'to perform its function as 'wil be later described." i Y The lever 2| is also' prdvidedfizvitl'ftwostops so, .30 of hook-shape form; one at ea'e'hflen" er the guard, the purpose of l he bladeholder and bladein a fixed angular 1551' tion when'the, imple Tent is inliiseanda o to uniformly align f the dges of blades' of varying widths with the guard By refererieejtdrigjfi it will be seen that, as the thumb "or finger-piece 22 is moved, de'w wermy, the --'guardris'es ancilif the blade-holder and blade be "swung jaewii-j 'wardly toward the guard before the lupward rnovement of the 'g'uardi is 1eemp1etee;l theparts jwm' take the "position by; dbtted the. figure. "i on "the. other hand; if the) finger'piece 22be,.1novedifrom the do position'fof Fig. '4 tfo 'the full line positiojn; of the same figure the blade is 'released irom engage} inenti with the st'opsfand the blade-holder with the blade therein can be -rotated a a the ofthe shaft l5. Q; g; Q; y The- 949? bisi' i eilirq er Ala and l er t srwre ly eqiustedesg-tn t.-;as rop:.lce-be ssred; throu h. .WIQE.$QL;PUIPQE;10 s oprz ns the blade. By then fixedly anchoring one end of the strop and drawing the strop taut with the hand, the razor may be drawn back and forth along the strop. During a stropping stroke the friction between the stropand the roller l'la, acting through the gears I8 and I9, causes the blade to be pressed upon the strop. Synchronously with the reversal of the stroke this frictional effectcauses .the'blade-holder to quickly "flop over or rotate so that the side of the blade opposite to the side that has been stropped on the next previously completed stroke is caused to bear upon and be dragged along the strop. This operation is repeated with each reversal of dire ction of the stropping stroke... The curved portions l3 and M of the base l assist in causing a suitable amount of friction between the strop and the roller Ha by virtueof the fact that the strop is deflected slightly from a straight line and therefore the area of contact with the roller 'andthe'pressure on the rollerare increased.

The blade-holder is provided (preferably but not necessarily on its underside) with a sheath 32,- in the channel 32a of "which the aligning finger of a blade magazine can be inserted. The blade magazine will now be described:-

Itis of the general type described and shown in UnitedStates Letters Patent to Rodrigues No. 1,969,945, issued August 14, 1934, Kuhnl No. 2,043,046, issued June 2, 1936, and Rodrigues No. 2,109,017, issued February 22, 1938. The details of the internal operating mechanism of'such an implement are already well-known in the razor art, and as they constitute no part of the invention it is sufficient merely to note that the magazine consists of a hollow box-like structure 33 containing a plurality of blades, and internal mechanism operated by the thumb piece 29 by the reciprocation of which the blades may be ejected one by one through the blade-ejection orifice 34. The'aligning finger 35 projecting from the magazine is so-positioned and proportioned that, when it is inserted to its full distance in the channel 32a. of the sheath 32, the blade-ejection orifice 34 registers with the blade-retaining slot 36 in the blade-holder, thus creating a continuous passage whereby a blade can pass unobstructed from the magazine into'the blade channel. In order to carry out the operation of injecting a blade 'it is necessary first to raise the thumb piece 22 of the lever 2| in order to release the blade from en gagement with the stops 30, 3Q.

Referring especially to" the blade-holder, it is apparent that the 'tendency' -of the stropping operation is to drag the blade in a lateral direction from its slot a'nd that that'would take place if it were retained only by the weak clamping friction thatis permissible if, as of course is' the case, 'it'is desired that the resistance offered to the entrance of a'blade be not too great for easy operation. In order to prevent its happening, each blade 31 is provided with an aperture 38, Also the blade-holder is provided on its underside with a nub 39 spring-pressed by reason of the fact that it is struck in from the narrowstrip'39a formed bythe cut 40 and normally extending into the blade slot. Theaperture in the blade is so positioned that, when the: blade is in proper shaving position in the blade slot (as shown in Figs. 2 and 4), the nub extends-into the aperture and thus resists the tendency to drag the blade laterally out of its slot during stropping; in fact, in the preferred embodiment as shown, the blade is positively locked against lateral dislocation by stropping unless the dislocating force be's'ufiicient at which the aperture 38.'registers with the nub, 4

whereupon the latter will enter the aperture. A similar action takes place in ejecting a bladethat is to say, in starting a blade from shaving latter as above described, thus camming it downwardly out of the slot.

Another feature of the relationship between the blade, the blade aperture, the nub, and blade slot should be noted. It is preferable that the blade slot be deep enough so that, when the blade aperture is in engagement with the nub (which is the condition that exists when the blade is fully injected into itsblade slot) the heel of the blade is slightly spaced from the bottom of the blade slot as shown at 42. The fit of the nub in-the blade aperture is sufficiently loose to permit the blade to oscillate on the nub as a center through a small angle, this being rendered possible by the spacing of the heel of the blade from the bottom of the blade slot. This relationship serves at least two purposes: First, that of permitting the-blade edge to accommodate itself to the stops 30, 30 with equal pressures by reason of the fact that these two stops are opposed only by the nub which engages the aperture of the blade at a point half-way between the blade ends. Therefore, the blade edge always lines up uniformly with the stops and consequently with the guard, regardless of any variations in the width of a given blade or of any lack of parallelism between the bottom of the blade slot and the predetermined line of the blade edge as fixed by the stops. Much of the precision in alignment that would otherwise be required in manufacture is consequently eliminated.

The relationship above referred to also functions to advantage when the blade has been disengaged from the stops 3!), 33 and is being stropped. The dragging force on the blade which is incident to the stropping operation is communicated to the blade holder through only one pointi. e., the nub, and therefore, by virtue of the spacing between the 'heel of the blade and the bottom of the blade slot, the blade is free to oscillate slightly as it passes along the strop and thus accommodate itself to the small irregularities in thickness which are usually present incommercial strops.

For convenience there may be added to the magazine a lug 4| which, when the aligning finger is fully inserted in the sheath, extends a'short distance inwardly beneath the blade-holder andrests on the end edge of the lever 2!, and thus steadies the blade-holder and blade while the operation of injecting ablade is being carried on. When the blade has been inserted and the blade already in the channel; (if any) has been driven out by the insertion of the new blade, and after the magazine aligning finger has been withdrawn, the stops 30, 3!] are caused to engage with the blade edge as shown in Fig. 2 and the implement is then ready for shaving.

'I have described above certain embodiments of'my'invention, but I wish it to be understood that this is illustrative and not limitative of my invention and that I reserve the right to make various changes in form, construction, and arrangement of parts falling within the spirit and scope of my invention, as set forth in the claims.

I claim:

1. A safety razor head comprising a base on which the operating parts are mounted, a guard provided with stops for engaging a blade edge, a support for a blade-holder mounted on the base, a blade-holder mounted on the support for rotation about an axis parallel with the guard and provided with a blade-retaining slot, the support and guard being yieldably mounted with respect to each other to permit relative motion toward and away from each other sufiicient for engagement and disengagement of the stops and the blade, the blade holder being provided with a channel of dimensions to accommodate the aligning finger of a blade magazine.

2. A safety razor head comprising a base on which the operating parts are mounted, a guard provided with stops for engaging a blade edge, a support for a blade-holder mounted on the base, a blade-holder mounted on the support for rotation about an axis parallel with the guard and provided with a blade-retaining slot, the support and guard being yieldably mounted with respect to each other to permit relative motion toward and away from each other sufficient for engagement and disengagement of the stops and the blade, the blade holder being provided with a channel of dimensions to accommodate the aligning finger of a blade magazine, and the blade-holder being provided with means for resisting lateral dislocation of the blade from the said slot.

3. A safety razor head comprising a base on which the operating parts are mounted, a guard provided with stops for engaging a blade edge, a support for a blade-holder mounted on the base, a blade-holder mounted on the support for rotation about an axis parallel with the guard and provided with a blade-retaining slot, the support and guard being yieldably mounted with respect to each other to permit relative motion toward and away from each other sufiicient for engagement and disengagement of the stops and the blade, the blade holder being provided with a channel of dimensions to accommodate the aligning finger of a blade magazine, and the blade-holder being provided with means for positively locking the blade in its slot against lateral dislocation but permitting longitudinal dislocation.

4. A safety razor head comprising a base on which the operating parts are mounted, a guard provided with stops for engaging a blade edge, a support for a blade-holder mounted on the base, a blade-holder mounted on the support for rotation about an axis parallel with the guard and provided with a blade-retaining slot, the support and guard being yieldably mounted with respect to each other to permit relative motion toward and away from each other sufficient for engagement and disengagement of the stops and the blade, the blade holder being provided with a channel of dimensions to accommodate the aligning finger of a blade magazine, and the bladeholder being provided with a spring-pressed nub normally projecting into the blade slot and adapted to restrain the blade within said slot.

5. A safety razor head comprising a base on which the operating parts are mounted, a guard provided with stops for engaging a blade edge, a support for a blade-holder mounted on the base, a blade-holder mounted on the support for rotation about an axis parallel with the guard and provided with a blade-retaining slot, the support and guard being yieldably mounted with respect to each other to permit relative motion toward and away from each other sufiicient for engagement and disengagement of the stops and the blade, the blade holder being provided with a channel of dimensions to accommodate the aligning finger of a blade magazine, and the blade-holder being provided with means for looking a blade in its slot against lateral dislocation, said means comprising a spring actuating a nub, the spring causing the nub to be normally pro jected into the slot.

6. A safety razor head comprising a base on which the operating parts are mounted, a guard provided with stops for engaging a blade edge and aligning the edge with the guard, a support for a blade-holder mounted on the base, a bladeholder mounted on the support for rotation about an axis parallel with the guard and provided with a blade-retaining slot, a traction roller parallel with the-axis of rotation of the holder and also rotatably mounted on the support, gear connection between the traction roller and the blade-holder, the traction roller being spaced from the base leaving a gap through which a strop may be reeved in frictional engagement with the roller, the support and guard being yieldingly mounted with respect to each other to permit relative motion between them sufficient for engagement and disengagement of the stops and the blade edge, said blade holder being provided with a channel adapted to accommodate the aligning finger of a blade magazine and by such alignment to position the blade-ejection orifice of the magazine in registry with the bladeretaining slot of the blade-holder.

7. A safety razor head comprising a base on which the operating parts are mounted, a guard provided with stops for engaging a blade edge, a support for a blade holder mounted on the base, a blade holder mounted on the support for rotation about an axis parallel withthe guard and provided with a blade retaining slot, the support and guard being yieldably mounted with respect to each other to permit relative motion toward and away from each other sufiicient for engagement and disengagement of the stops and the blade, the blade holder being provided with a channel of dimensions to accommodate the aligning finger of a blade magazine, and the blade holder being provided with means for loosely but positively looking a blade in the slot against lateral dislocation, said means comprising a nub and a spring actuating the nub, the spring causing the nub to be normally projected into the slot.

. JOHN DANIEL KARLE. 

